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KU’s own Dr. William A. Barnett, the Oswald Distinguished Professor of Macroeconomics, is renowned for his work over many decades on the use of Divisia monetary measures and their relevance for monetary policy. But not everyone may be familiar with the fascinating path his career took long before he came to be recognized around the world as the leading advocate for the increased use of monetary aggregation and index-number theory in economic analysis. A recent interview with economist David Beckworth, as part of the prestigious Macroeconomic Musings podcast series (https://soundcloud.com/macro-musings), outlines that path and provides additional context for Dr. Barnett’s efforts in establishing the international Society for Economic Measurement (SEM), as well his important work as Director at the Center for Financial Stability (CFS) in New York City, Director of the Institute for Nonlinear Dynamical Inference in Moscow, and Editor of the Cambridge University Press journal, Macroeconomic Dynamics.

Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis caused fewer babies being born there — through reduced fertility rates and higher fetal death rates — compared with other Michigan cities during that time, according to a working paper that includes a University of Kansas researcher.

This fund shall be used to support undergraduate and graduate students who are participating in study abroad in the Economics Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas. The donor expresses a preference for female students to be considered first. Appropriate expenditures may include, but are not limited to, rent, travel costs, visas, school supplies, Metro cards and other travel expenses related to their educational experience. The fund shall not be used for tuition or personal expenses. Expenditures from the fund shall be made upon the recommendation of the chair of the Economics Department with the approval of KU Endowment.

African women in polygamous marriages or with alcoholic husbands have a significantly higher risk of being physically abused by their husbands than women in monogamous marriages or women whose husbands don’t abuse alcohol, according to new research by a KU professor of economics.

Andrew Keinsley, a doctoral student in the Department of Economics, is one of 480 students from 80 countries selected to attend the 5th Lindau Meeting of the "Laureates of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel," i.e., the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. The meeting, last held in 2011, will take place in Lindau, Germany August 19-23. It will be attended by 19 past laureates, including Vernon L. Smith, who received an M.A. in economics at KU in 1952 en route to sharing the Nobel Prize in 2002. Keinsley was nominated for the Lindau Meeting by Shu Wu, associate professor, associate chair, and graduate program director in the Department of Economics.

New Faculty Award in Economics Established and First Winner Announced.

I am happy to announce that, as the result of a generous donation by the children of De-Min and Chin-Sha Wu, there is now a De-Min and Chin-Sha Wu Faculty Award in Economics. De-Min Wu was a long time faculty member who retired some years ago, Chin-Sha is his wife.

I am also happy to announce that the first recipient of this award will be Ted Juhl.

De-Min is an econometrician.(De-Min is the Wu of the "Wu test" for endogeneity. I understand that this is now better known as the "Wu-Hausman test" or the "Durbin-Wu-Hausman test")

Lawrence Wu and Clara Wu Tsai, who grew up in Lawrence, together donated $100,000 to establish this fund. This will generate about $5,000 per year in spendable funds. This fund shall be a rotating award to honor excellence among associate professors in the department of Economics. The recipient shall receive the title, De-Min and Chin-Sha Wu Associate Professor of Economics, for the term of the award, which shall be no more than three years and may be renewed for one additional term.

From among several deserving candidates,The Executive Committee chose Ted Juhl as the first recipient, to hold the award for two years or until promotion to Full Professor. I think that Ted is certainly highly deserving and I think it is particularly appropriate that the first recipient is an econometrician

This is one of a series of awards that the Journal has established to acknowledge the contributions of authors who have moved the subject forward by virtue of their sustained publishing efforts over a period of years. Contributions such as your own have helped econometrics grow into the huge subject area in economics that it is today, and have been instrumental in helping individual econometric fields grow to maturity, especially during the last decade.

An announcement of your Econometric Theory Award will be made in an early issue of ET in 2014 and on our ET website.

At present, there are three award levels. The criteria for making the awards are automatic and are based on a point system with the following requirements: Multa Scripsit (5 points) Plura Scripsit (10 points) and Plurima Scripsit (20 points). In accumulating points for these awards a sole-authored article in ET counts as two points and a co-authored article in ET counts as one point. Points are accumulated and awards will be made annually as soon as the author has published the requisite number of articles. Having received an Econometric Theory Award at one level, an author becomes a candidate for an award at the next level.

To view SSRN's Top Ten lists for any network, subnetwork, eJournal or topic on the Browse list (reachable through the following link), click the "i" button to the right of the name, and then select the "Top Downloaded" link in the popup window.

LAWRENCE —The 101st Homecoming at the University of Kansas concluded Oct. 5 after a week that included events for KU students and the Lawrence community.

Throughout the week, KU student organizations collected points for their participation in events coordinated by the student-led Homecoming Steering Committee and the KU Alumni Association, along with campus and community partners. The theme of this year's celebration was "Jayhawks Around the World." For information on the winners of individual daily events.

The overall winners for the week were Alpha Chi Omega sorority and Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, which together won first prize in the Greek Life division, and the School of Engineering, which placed first in the Student Life division. The winners were announced at halftime of the KU-Texas Tech football game Oct. 5.

In addition, Miranda Wagner, a junior economics major from Shawnee, won the Jennifer Alderdice Homecoming Award. The Homecoming Steering Committee selected her for her spirit and campus service. Wagner serves as a student senator and is a member of the executive board for Alternative Breaks. She welcomes prospective Jayhawks to campus as a student ambassador, and she participates in student programs with the Dole Institute of Politics. She recently studied abroad at the London School of Economics. She is the daughter of Mike and Leilani Wagner.

The award honors Jennifer Alderdice, a former KU Alumni Association staff member who advised the Homecoming Steering Committee and the Student Alumni Association for many years. Alderdice, who still lives in Lawrence, earned her KU master's degree in higher education administration in 1999.

William Barnett is the world's leading figure in the study of methods for the accurate measurement of monetary and financial aggregates, an essential component of monetary policy by the world's central banks. Barnett came to KU in 2002 from Washington University in St. Louis, and he was previously the Stuart Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science from M.I.T., an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Arts and doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University.See more

Balfour Jeffrey Award in Humanities and Social Sciences

William Barnett is the world's leading figure in the study of methods for the accurate measurement of monetary and financial aggregates, an essential component of monetary policy by the world's central banks. Barnett came to KU in 2002 from Washington University in St. Louis, and he was previously the Stuart Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science from M.I.T., an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Arts and doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University.See more

Balfour Jeffrey Award in Humanities and Social Sciences

William Barnett is the world's leading figure in the study of methods for the accurate measurement of monetary and financial aggregates, an essential component of monetary policy by the world's central banks. Barnett came to KU in 2002 from Washington University in St. Louis, and he was previously the Stuart Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science from M.I.T., an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Arts and doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University.See more

Lawrence – Four faculty members at three universities in Kansas have been named recipients of the state's most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence: the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards. The four will be recognized Wednesday, Oct. 30, during a ceremony at the Lied Center of Kansas.

This is the 32nd annual presentation of the awards, established in 1981 by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas from 1967 to 1983, and his wife, Aya. The awards recognize the exceptional long-term research accomplishments of faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities. Each award includes a citation and a $10,000 award for ongoing research efforts. The money can be used for research materials, summer salaries, fellowship matching funds, hiring research assistants or other support related to research.

This year's recipients are William Barnett, Oswald Distinguished Professor of Macroeconomics in the Department of Economics, KU; William Groutas, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Wichita State University; Siyuan Han, Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU; and Mary Beth Kirkham, Professor in the Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University.

Awards are given in four categories: humanities and social sciences, basic sciences, biomedical sciences and applied sciences. Each award is named for former leaders of KU Endowment who played key roles in recruiting Higuchi to KU. Their financial support of KU helped enhance university research throughout the state of Kansas.

This marks the second time an award has gone to a Wichita State faculty member. Ramesh K. Agarwal, formerly professor of aerospace engineering, was recognized in the applied sciences category in 1998.

Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little will speak at the presentation ceremony. She will be joined by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Jeff Vitter and Vice Chancellor of Research and Graduate Studies Steve Warren. Past Higuchi Award recipients who attend will also be recognized.

This year's recipients of Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards:

Balfour Jeffrey Award in Humanities and Social Sciences

William Barnett is the world's leading figure in the study of methods for the accurate measurement of monetary and financial aggregates, an essential component of monetary policy by the world's central banks. Barnett came to KU in 2002 from Washington University in St. Louis, and he was previously the Stuart Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science from M.I.T., an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Arts and doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dolph Simons Award in Biomedical Sciences

William Groutas is internationally known for his work combating such diseases as West Nile virus, Dengue virus, norovirus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He came to Wichita State as an assistant professor in 1980 from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Groutas became a professor in 1987 and was named a distinguished professor in 1991. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science and diploma in education from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and a doctorate from the University of Kentucky. He served as a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University.

Olin Petefish Award in Basic Science

Siyuan Han is one of the world's leading researchers in quantum computing, especially the development of superconducting devices. Practical quantum computing based on qubits (quantum bits) is in its infancy but will increase computing speed tremendously, enabling scientists to solve certain extremely hard problems. Han came to KU as an associate professor in 1997 from Stony Brook University and became a professor in 2003. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Science and Technology of China and a doctorate from Iowa State University.

Irvin Youngberg Award for Applied Sciences

Mary Beth Kirkham is an international authority on the plant-water relations of winter wheat and the uptake of heavy metals by crops grown on polluted soil. She was the first to document the effects of elevated levels of carbon dioxide on crops grown under semi-arid conditions. Kirkham came to Kansas State in 1980 following faculty appointments at Oklahoma State University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College and master's and doctoral degrees from the ›.

Attendance at the Oct. 30 ceremony is by invitation. More information about the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Awards is available online.

The fund is managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.See more

LAWRENCE – Four faculty members at three universities in Kansas have been named recipients of the state's most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence: the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards. The four will be recognized Wednesday, Oct. 30, during a ceremony at the Lied Center of Kansas.

This is the 32nd annual presentation of the awards, established in 1981 by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas from 1967 to 1983, and his wife, Aya. The awards recognize the exceptional long-term research accomplishments of faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities. Each award includes a citation and a $10,000 award for ongoing research efforts. The money can be used for research materials, summer salaries, fellowship matching funds, hiring research assistants or other support related to research.

This year's recipients are William Barnett, Oswald Distinguished Professor of Macroeconomics in the Department of Economics, KU; William Groutas, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Wichita State University; Siyuan Han, Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU; and Mary Beth Kirkham, Professor in the Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University.

Awards are given in four categories: humanities and social sciences, basic sciences, biomedical sciences and applied sciences. Each award is named for former leaders of KU Endowment who played key roles in recruiting Higuchi to KU. Their financial support of KU helped enhance university research throughout the state of Kansas.

This marks the second time an award has gone to a Wichita State faculty member. Ramesh K. Agarwal, formerly professor of aerospace engineering, was recognized in the applied sciences category in 1998.

Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little will speak at the presentation ceremony. She will be joined by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Jeff Vitter and Vice Chancellor of Research and Graduate Studies Steve Warren. Past Higuchi Award recipients who attend will also be recognized.

This year's recipients of Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards:

Balfour Jeffrey Award in Humanities and Social Sciences

William Barnett is the world's leading figure in the study of methods for the accurate measurement of monetary and financial aggregates, an essential component of monetary policy by the world's central banks. Barnett came to KU in 2002 from Washington University in St. Louis, and he was previously the Stuart Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science from M.I.T., an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Arts and doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dolph Simons Award in Biomedical Sciences

William Groutas is internationally known for his work combating such diseases as West Nile virus, Dengue virus, norovirus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He came to Wichita State as an assistant professor in 1980 from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Groutas became a professor in 1987 and was named a distinguished professor in 1991. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science and diploma in education from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and a doctorate from the University of Kentucky. He served as a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University.

Olin Petefish Award in Basic Science

Siyuan Han is one of the world's leading researchers in quantum computing, especially the development of superconducting devices. Practical quantum computing based on qubits (quantum bits) is in its infancy but will increase computing speed tremendously, enabling scientists to solve certain extremely hard problems. Han came to KU as an associate professor in 1997 from Stony Brook University and became a professor in 2003. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Science and Technology of China and a doctorate from Iowa State University.

Irvin Youngberg Award for Applied Sciences

Mary Beth Kirkham is an international authority on the plant-water relations of winter wheat and the uptake of heavy metals by crops grown on polluted soil. She was the first to document the effects of elevated levels of carbon dioxide on crops grown under semi-arid conditions. Kirkham came to Kansas State in 1980 following faculty appointments at Oklahoma State University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College and master's and doctoral degrees from the ›.

Attendance at the Oct. 30 ceremony is by invitation. More information about the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Awards is available online.

The fund is managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.See more

LAWRENCE – Four faculty members at three universities in Kansas have been named recipients of the state's most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence: the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards. The four will be recognized Wednesday, Oct. 30, during a ceremony at the Lied Center of Kansas.

This is the 32nd annual presentation of the awards, established in 1981 by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas from 1967 to 1983, and his wife, Aya. The awards recognize the exceptional long-term research accomplishments of faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities. Each award includes a citation and a $10,000 award for ongoing research efforts. The money can be used for research materials, summer salaries, fellowship matching funds, hiring research assistants or other support related to research.

This year's recipients are William Barnett, Oswald Distinguished Professor of Macroeconomics in the Department of Economics, KU; William Groutas, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Wichita State University; Siyuan Han, Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU; and Mary Beth Kirkham, Professor in the Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University.See more

LAWRENCE – Four faculty members at three universities in Kansas have been named recipients of the state's most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence: the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards. The four will be recognized Wednesday, Oct. 30, during a ceremony at the Lied Center of Kansas.

This is the 32nd annual presentation of the awards, established in 1981 by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas from 1967 to 1983, and his wife, Aya. The awards recognize the exceptional long-term research accomplishments of faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities. Each award includes a citation and a $10,000 award for ongoing research efforts. The money can be used for research materials, summer salaries, fellowship matching funds, hiring research assistants or other support related to research.

This year's recipients are William Barnett, Oswald Distinguished Professor of Macroeconomics in the Department of Economics, KU; William Groutas, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Wichita State University; Siyuan Han, Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU; and Mary Beth Kirkham, Professor in the Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University.See more

LAWRENCE — Three undergraduate students in the University Honors Program at the University of Kansas were recognized at the 16th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium for their innovative research projects.

Joshua Dean, Alex Kong and Kayci Vickers all received the James K. Hitt Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research at the symposium, which was April 27. The award is administered through the University Honors Program, and it comes with a $500 award.

Joshua Dean, a senior from Overland Park majoring in economics, mathematics and political science, presented his research titled "Identifying Factors Affecting Student Transition from Primary to Secondary Education in Selected Developing Countries." Dean has been working under the guidance of faculty mentor Elizabeth Asiedu, associate professor in economics, and will pursue graduate work in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, funded by a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

Prof Barnett Featured in Bloomberg Buisnessweek

This week's Bloomberg Businessweek features CFS Director William A. Barnett and the CFS Divisia money supply.

The article highlights some of the unique aspects of CFS monetary and financial data as well as how conclusions regarding the economy and markets might have been different with our data.

Thu, 03/07/2013

LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas recognized some of its most productive researchers recently, conferring the Leading Light Award on 40 faculty and staff at the Lawrence campus.

The 40 are principal investigators or co-principal investigators on externally funded grants of $1 million or more awarded during the 2012 fiscal year. Recipients were recognized at a luncheon, where each received an inscribed bronze sunflower symbolic of Kansas and their leadership in research.

This is the second year of the Leading Light Award program. It was established at KU by Jeff Vitter, provost and executive vice chancellor. "By contributing to the research enterprise at KU in a major way," said Vitter, "these individuals and teams serve as leading lights and role models for others."

At the ceremony, recipients of the awards had an opportunity to describe their project. Past recipients of the award also attended the luncheon.

"KU researchers in all fields are competitive with the best in the country," said event co-host Steve Warren, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies. "Success in obtaining large grants is just one indicator of that, and this recognition is well-deserved."

Donna Gither selected as the 26th recipient of the Byton T. Shutz Award for Excellence in Teaching

Donna Ginther, professor of economics and director of the Center for Science Technology & Economic Policy, has been selected as the 26threcipient of the Byron T. Shutz Award for Excellence in Teaching. Prior to joining the University of Kansas faculty, she was a research economist and associate policy advisor in the regional group of the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta from 200 to 2002, and taught at Washington University from 1997 to 2000 and Southern Methodist University from 1995 to 1997. Her major fields of study are scientific labor markets, gender differences in employment outcomes, wage inequality, scientific entrepreneurship, and children's educational attainments.

Professor Ginther will present her public Shutz Award lecture, "New Results on Race, Ethnicity and NIH Research Awards: A Case Study in BD2K" on Monday, February 18, at 3:30 p.m. in the Conference Hall at the Hall Center for the Humanities, 900 Sunnyside Avenue. A reception in her honor will immediately follow.

If you have questions about the lecture or reception, or if you need directions or information about parking, please feel free to contact Rae Ann Brown, 785-864-4904 or rabrown@ku.edu

Bill Barnett awarded Best Economics Book by PROSE

Getting it Wrong: How Faulty Monetary Statistics Undermine the Fed, the Financial System, and the Economywinning the best book in the category of Economics for the 2012 PROSE awards given by the Association of American Publishers.